Video captures China residents clinging to ledge as fire rages in high-rise apartment building
Protests have escalated in China since a similar structure fire in Xinjiang, which activists say was worsened by strict COVID-19 lockdowns
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Residents of a high-rise apartment building in Xi'an, China were forced to hang out of their window sills and off of ledges to escape a raging structure fire.
The footage, posted to Chinese social media site Weibo, shows the towering Weiyang area apartment building engulfed in flames as firefighters combat the blaze.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Riot police in personal protection suits arrive during protests over COVID-19 restrictions, in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, Nov. 29, 2022. (Video obtained by Reuters/via REUTERS)
China is currently experiencing unprecedented political unrest after a deadly fire in a high-rise building in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, that cost 10 people their lives. The building had been in partial lockdown for nearly two months, leading activists to speculate that the COVID regulations hindered residents' ability to escape.
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Over the weekend, things turned violent in several cities with protesters clashing with police. Videos posted online showed police attacking and carrying away some protesters. People have increasingly voiced their anger online.
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People hold white sheets of paper in protest of COVID-19 restrictions, after a vigil for the victims of a fire in Urumqi, as outbreaks of the coronavirus disease continue in Beijing, Nov. 27, 2022. (REUTERS/Thomas Peter)
On Saturday and into Sunday, people gathered in the city center of Shanghai to light candles for the victims of the deadly fire. Around midnight, the crowd had swelled to over a thousand people, chanting, "apologize," "Xi Jinping, step down," and "Communist Party, step down," which were all directed at the central government,